


Another Utopia Falls

by LordRebeccaSama



Category: BioShock, Hetalia: Axis Powers
Genre: Adam - Freeform, Alfred F. Jones - Freeform, Civil War, Drug Addiction, Drug Use, EVE - Freeform, F/M, Feliciano Vargas - Freeform, Gen, Human names used., Kiku Honda - Freeform, Ludwig Beilschmidt - Freeform, M/M, New Year's Eve, Plasmid, Rapture, Sex, Underwater, gerita - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2013-03-06
Updated: 2014-07-17
Packaged: 2017-12-04 11:02:18
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 7
Words: 13,347
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/710066
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LordRebeccaSama/pseuds/LordRebeccaSama
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>What started as a nice vacation and break from chaotic World Meetings, turned into a nightmare when a civil war starts brewing and four countries are pulled right into the middle of it. Having to fight their way out, they can only trust each other...and even then... Bad things happen down in Rapture, and New Year's Eve is only the beginning. Human names used.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter One

  
It is not a dystopia . . . but like all utopias, failed even before the first shovel struck dirt . . . It doesn't matter if the utopia is in fact realized . . . it is doomed from the moment its founder pronounces the capital 'U.'   
_-Christine Tarkowski, 2005_   


Alfred, aka the personification of America, was amazed at the world around him. He was currently in the Atlantic Ocean, more than eighteen fathoms below the surface and in one of the most futuristic cities in the world. Sure, the decor was fitting for the time period, but the technology wasn't.

Alfred was standing in one of the many glass lined pathways scattered throughout Rapture, staring out at the fish swimming around the buildings. It was truly a beautiful sight, but Alfred couldn't help but think that this paradise could make a complete one-eighty in a matter of days.

"Ah, Mr. Jones," Andrew Ryan, the founder of Rapture, said as he walked into the pressurized hallway. "You are a very tricky person to track down."

Alfred smiled. "Ah, sorry about that, I just wanted to explore. This place is amazing!"

Ryan smiled. "That's quite alright, my boy. I still take strolls around the city, as well, if the mood strikes me." Ryan walked a couple steps closer to Alfred. "I am awfully pleased that you accepted my invitation to join us down here in Rapture."

"Well," Alfred said, "I still need to be present for the World Meetings up on the surface, but I'd be sure to come back as often as I can."

Most people think that Alfred doesn't pay attention to his surroundings and he's oblivious to his own actions, but that was exactly how he wanted those people to perceive him, which is why he noticed and knew exactly why Andrew Ryan's pale hand tightened on his cane.

Ryan forced a pleasant smile on his face that didn't fool Alfred for one second. "I do hope that you'll be able to stay for the New Year's Eve celebration at least?"

Alfred nodded. "Sure, I don't have anything else to do."

Ryan nodded. "Great. If you need anything, you can come to my office."

"Thank you," Alfred said and shook Ryan's offered hand.

Alfred watched Ryan walk away. He knew that under his masked cheerfulness, there was a hint of fear that lingered. Something wasn't going as Ryan planned down here in Rapture and Alfred decided that he better find out what it was before it came and bit him in the ass.

\--

"Ludwig-san," Kiku started, "do you think it's alright to leave Feliciano-san alone?"

Ludwig scowled, but nodded anyway. "He can take care of himself for a little while."

Kiku and Ludwig were in a bathysphere heading down into the depths of Rapture with six other people. The entire group, except three people who were playing poker, was amazed by their first site of Rapture when the welcoming video that played lifted up.

"Do you get a bad feeling about this place, too, Ludwig-san?" Kiku asked, staring down at the enormous underwater city.

Ludwig scowled. "Yes. I haven't even stepped foot in it and I can tell everything didn't go as planned for Andrew Ryan. We'll have to be careful."

Kiku nodded in agreement.

The bathysphere docked and the door swung open. Kiku and Ludwig allowed the other passengers to get off. Three of them flashed their badges and proceeded into Rapture. The other three were greeted by someone that welcomed them to Rapture and led them away.

"Mr. Beilschmidt and Mr. Honda, I presume?" a heavy-set man with brown hair and a welcoming smile on his face asked. The man had a very distinct southern American accent.

Ludwig stepped forward. "Yes, that's us."

The man stepped forward with his hand out to shake Ludwig's. "Great. My name's Travis McKenzie and I'm a here to show you folks around Rapture."

Ludwig shook Travis' hand. "I'm Ludwig Beilschmidt and this is my business partner Kiku Honda." Even though he and Kiku weren't allies anymore didn't mean they stopped being friends.

Kiku bowed his head in greeting, but shook Travis' hand as well.

"Well, if you fellas will just follow me, I'll show you to your rooms. Y'all don't have to worry about them bags. The porters will take care o' them." Ludwig and Kiku nodded and followed Travis out of the Welcome Center of Rapture. "Now, y'all are a-stayin' in Mercury Suites. Now, that's Kashmir Restaurant over yonder. Have a very diverse menu. Ate there once when I first came, some o' the best food I'd a ever had.

"Any medical needs you can take care of in the Medical Pavilion. If you fellas ever want to relax, I would suggest Arcadia. It's the heart of Rapture, it is: provides all the organic food and oxygen we need. However, to get in now, you have to pay. Ryan closed it to anyone who can't.

"Fort Frolic is the main shopping area of Rapture. There y'all find some clothing stores and many music related businesses run by Sander Cohen." Travis paused in his tour. "Crazy man, he is," he mumbled.

"Excuse me," Ludwig said, "what?"

Travis waved away Ludwig's concern. "Oh, it's nothing. This is Mercury Suites. Y'all bags should be here. I'll be leavin' y'all in the capable hands of Leslie, here. Good day." Travis left and Ludwig and Kiku turned to look at the smiling woman in a yellow dress.

"Welcome to Mercury Suites. Can I please have your names?"

\--

Feliciano was worried for his friends. They left a week ago to America to catch a boat to bring them to a city called Rapture. By now, they were probably down in the city.

"Felici, I don't think this is a very good idea," Francis said to the brown haired nation.

Feliciano stood up in the tomato box he was standing in. "But big brother France, I'm worried for them. We may not be allies anymore, but they're still my friends."

Francis sighed. "As long as you know what you're doing, _mon ami_."

"I do," Feliciano said with conviction. Francis smiled at his enthusiasm and passed the shorter Italian a small backpack full of food. "Thank you, big brother France."

Francis smiled and hugged the Italian. "Anything for you and _amore_."

Feliciano blushed. "It's not like that."

Francis pet Feliciano on the head. "Of course not, Felici."

Feliciano sat down in the box and nodded to Francis to nail the top down.

Francis did so, albeit grudgingly. He didn't want the small nation to go into uncharted territory without anyone else to search for his beloved Ludwig, but he didn't have a choice in the matter. He drove the tomato crate with the hidden Italian to the docks and left the crate next to other crates that are going down to Rapture.

Feliciano fell asleep in the crate soon after he arrived on the boat. He tried to save as much food as he could so that he wouldn't need to steal down in Rapture.

Feliciano felt the boat dock and a few minutes later, the crate he was in was tilted and he bit his lip from letting out a grunt of pain as he fell against one side.

The ride was fairly smooth the rest of the way, and Feliciano felt whatever he was on lurch as it docked.

"Okay, unload the bathysphere!" one man shouted. He felt the surface he was on shift when people walked on it and wheeled the other crates off. Someone wheeled off the crate he was hidden in.

Feliciano carefully undid the screws on one side of the crate and crawled out, screwing the side back onto the crate after he was out.

"Everything is out, sir," one man said.

Feliciano hid behind the crate he crawled out of.

"You know the drill. Start sorting everything."

Feliciano's eyes widened as the men started walking around looking at all the boxes and marking them for the specific locations they were supposed to go. He ran as silently a he could behind a few pallets that were turned up on their sides.

"Sir!"

"What?" the foreman shouted.

"We have a tomato crate, here."

The foreman narrowed his eyes. "Why would they order tomatoes when we grow them in Arcadia?" The other workers just gave him confused looks. "Idiots, because they didn't," he told them and moved the shotgun that was strapped around his back to the front and brought it up to eye level. He fired the four bullets in the magazine at the crate making sure that if anyone was in it, they would've been hit.

Feliciano swallowed nervously. That could've been him. He quickly ran from the room as the foreman and other workers looked into the box. If the place was supposed to be a utopia, why did the dock workers have guns? Something was seriously wrong here and Feliciano just hoped he would find Ludwig before he was caught in the middle of it.


	2. Chapter Two

  
Utopia is the grotesque en rose, the need to associate happiness - that is, the improbable - with becoming, and to coerce an optimistic, aerial vision to the point where it rejoins its own source: the very cynicism it sought to combat. In short, a monstrous fantasy.   
_-E. M. Cioran_   


Feliciano had no idea where he was. Sure, he knew he was down in Rapture, but how did he end up in a forest? Italy got a bad feeling from this place. The trees didn't feel _natural._

He was gazing at the vibrant trees ahead when a bolt of electricity shot through his body and he was thrown back.

"Watch where ye're goin'," a gruff man said. Feliciano groaned and held his throbbing head as he looked up at the man who he bumped into. "I doona believe that they're lettin' anyone into Arcadia these days," the man said to a petite woman on his arm.

The woman giggled and patted the man on the arm in a comforting manner.

A few minutes later, Feliciano managed to sit up all the way, but he was still shaking pretty badly.

There was a hissing sound and water from overhead sprinklers came trickling down. The water sent another shock through his system and he stumbled out of it as quickly as he could.

"Oi, buddy!" an aging man in green overalls yelled to the shaking Italian. "What are you doing in the middle of the trees? It clearly says on the sign over there that we're watering." The man walked closer to Feliciano who just tried to get his shaking under control. "You okay?"

Feliciano yelped and jumped back when a stray water drop hit him on the hand. Another shock went through his body and he landed on a heap on the ground.

"Jesus, why didn't you tell me you ran into someone with one of those electric tonics?" The man grabbed Feliciano's forearm and hoisted him to his feet. "Come on, kid. You can rest in my office until the effects wear off."

"T-t-th-thanks," he managed to stutter out.

"It's no trouble, kid. I know what it feels like to run into someone with one of those tonics."

Feliciano was lead into a small office filled to the brim with gardening tools and paperwork. He sat on the offered chair and took even breaths in and out.

"You gotta be careful, kid. More and more people have been using tonics and plasmids."

"W-what are th-those?" Feliciano said, looking up confused.

The man gasped. "You don't know what plasmids are? I thought everyone knew what they were."

"I just g-got here."

"Well, that makes more sense. Tonics and Plasmids are these serum things that you can take and it changes your DNA so that you can do things that normally wouldn't be possible. 'Kinda like super powers. Tonics just work once you introduce it to your system, but plasmids, the person has to consciously want to use it. That's why when you ran into that guy you got shocked."

"Is that legal?"

The man laughed. "Hell, kid, if it was legal, it wouldn't be down here in Rapture, now would it."

Feliciano's tremors have almost receded and he was just waiting for the feeling to seep back into his limbs.

However, if I could give you a piece of advice" The Italian nodded. "head back up to the surface. Things down here in Rapture are starting to get bad and I wouldn't want an innocent kid like you to get hurt."

"I'm looking for someone. Two people actually."

"Then I wish you the best of luck, kid. Listen, since you plan on staying down here, keep your head out of the clouds and stay alert. There's an uprising brewin' and you'll want to be prepared. Find a weapon and get armed, just in case. Fists and brute strength will get you nowhere fast once something happens."

Feliciano stood up, getting ready to leave and find his friends. "Why are you telling me all this?"

"Because almost everyone that I see is spliced up with those plasmids and it's nice to see someone that isn't."

"You're not, either," Feliciano pointed out.

"I'm too damn scared to stick a needle in my skin, maybe if someone paid me enough, but not until then." Feliciano nodded even though he didn't quite understand what needles had to do with these plasmid things. "Listen kid, find your friends and get out of here before Ryan stops running trips to the surface. It's bound to happen any day now."

"Thank you very much," Feliciano said to the man who was rummaging in a pile of tools.

"Here." A wrench was thrust into Italy's hands. "Sorry I couldn't give you a gun or anything, but I need to protect myself as well." Italy hid the wrench in his backpack. "Now, it's time for you to go." The man pushed the ItalianFel out of the office. "Head straight down this path and you'll find a bathysphere. Take that to Apollo Square and there's a tram that leads to Mercury Suites. You're friends are important, right?" Feliciano nodded. "Then they'll most likely be around there. Good luck." The man shut the garden supplies shed door in his face.

\--

Alfred scowled. Rapture was a lot more corrupt than he thought. Underneath the happy atmosphere of the upper class areas, the lower class plotted a revolution with Atlas as their leader. He was taking Rapture down from the inside out and Alfred really did not want to remain down in the city, but he made a promise to Ryan that he would stay for New Year's and a hero never goes back on his word.

He sighed and waited for the next tram to arrive to take him back to Mercury Suites.

Alfred stared out at the crowd of people surrounding the headquarters of Atlas and the metro station. These people had a different attitude than the upper class. Everyone here looked as if they were ready for a fight to break out. He had already seen at least ten guns peaking out from under jackets and pockets. A man to the left of the station was selling this thing called EVE for a high price, but people still bought the glowing product.

It was then when the overpriced EVE seller tried to sell a product to a brown haired man in a blue military uniform with a tan backpack that he started to pay attention. The man was pushing the product on the scared man in blue and when he shook his head in refusal, Alfred saw a curl that was impossible to miss.

Alfred stood up and speed-walked over to the duo. "Feliciano!" he yelled. The seller and the Italian turned to face Alfred. "What have I told you about running off?" Alfred grabbed Feliciano's arm and pulled him away and towards the tram that just showed up. "Time and time again, I tell you to stay in the apartment, but you always wonder off. What am I going to do with you?"

"Ve?" the shorter one asked.

The American pushed the confused Italian into a seat on the tram and sat down next to him.

"Sorry about that. Are you okay?" Alfred asked the slightly shorter country.

"Yes, thank you. What are you doing down here?"

Alfred turned and looked at the other country. He looked a little worse for wear. Dirt covered a majority of his uniform and his hair stood slightly on end like he was electrocuted.

"Andrew Ryan invited me. What are _you_ doing down here?"

Feliciano looked down at his hands positioned in his lap. "Looking for Ludwig and Kiku. They were invited, too, but they left me alone and I got scared and wanted to make sure they were okay, so I got big brother France to help me get down here, and then I got lost, and I ran into someone that sent an electro bolt through my body, and this old man helped me and told me what plasmids and tonics were, and then he gave me a wrench, and"

"Wait, wait, wait," Alfred said, stopping the Italian in his tracks. "You followed Ludwig and Kiku down here just because you were lonely and scared for their welfare?"

Feliciano nodded.

"I'm going to get you a ticket back up to the surface as soon as we get off this tram. You shouldn't be down here."

"NO!" he shouted, catching the attention of most of the people in the car. "No. Please don't, Alfred. Please. I need to find them. Something is wrong with this place, I can feel it, and I don't want my friends to stay down here alone and get hurt."

Alfred sighed and ran a hand down his face, trying to figure out what to do. "I think they would appreciate it more if I sent you home."

Feliciano sat up straighter in his chair, looking more determined than Alfred has ever seen him before. "No. I refuse to go. I may not be as strong or tough as my Grandpa Rome or Romano, but I want to protect my friends."

Alfred knew the look on the Italian's face. He himself has done the same face to insist that he would do something. Alfred knew when he was defeated. "Fine, but don't go running off. I won't be able to find you in this city if you do."

Feliciano nodded.

A few minutes later, the tram car pulled into the station at Mercury Suites.

Alfred pulled Feliciano to the front desk where the woman looked at them with a disgusted and holier-than-thou look on her face.

"Yes," she asked sarcastically. "How can I help you?"

"Uh, yes," Alfred said, trying to get his words straight. "Can you tell us if there is a Ludwig Beilschmidt and a Kiku Honda staying here?"

"I'm sorry, but you don't have the authorization to know about the people that stay here."

"I just need to know if they're here; I don't need their room numbers."

"I can't release that information. Please leave or I will have to call security."

_Shit,_ thought Alfred. He had forgotten to change out of the dirty clothes he wore down into the poorer regions of Rapture and that caused him to look like he didn't belong in this area.

Alfred planted his hands on the desk in front of him and leaned towards the woman. "Listen, lady, I'm staying in Room 34. My name is Alfred Jones. Can you please just tell me?"

"Alfred," Feliciano said, scared. There were at least ten armed guards slowing closing in on the duo.

"Let me handle this."

"Alfred," Feliciano tugged on Alfred's sleeve.

"Not now, Italy," Alfred snapped, still looking at the woman.

"No, Alfred, I think you should turn around."

"What?" Alfred spun around and came face-to-face with one of the guards. It wasn't just that there was a guard there in general; it was more because the guard looked he lifted heavy weights everyday for years. "Fuck."

"Fuck is right," the guard said, a smile breaking out on his face. "We'll take it from here, Gloria."

Gloria smiled smugly to the two countries now held in police custody. "Thanks, boys."

Alfred thought that they would just lock the two of them up in a cell, but he wasn't expecting to be hit forcefully in the back of the neck and black out. The last thing he saw was a hand chopping down on Feliciano's neck in the same fashion.


	3. Chapter Three

  
Our business here is to be Utopian, to make vivid and credible, if we can, first this facet and then that, of an imaginary whole and happy world.   
_-H.G. Wells_   


Ludwig and Kiku walked down into the lobby of Mercury Suites to see most of the tenets watching two people, covered in dirty clothing, getting carted away by ten people that looked like they were full-time body builders.

The two were struggling to get loose, but the guards knocked them out and carried them away.

Kiku locked eyes with Ludwig, conveying that he knew something was up. Why would they need ten buffed men to drag two scrawny people away?

Everyone went back to minding their own business, making it seem that that was a regular occurrence.

Kiku followed Ludwig up to the front desk where the smug welcoming woman was sitting.

"Excuse me," Ludwig said.

The woman's smiled changed into a pleasant one as she looked at the Mercury Suites patrons.

"Hello, how can I help you today?" she asked pleasantly.

"We were wondering what there is to do around the city."

"What are your names?"

"I'm Ludwig Beilschmidt and this is Kiku Honda."

She rummaged around on her desk and pulled out a small envelope from under some other papers.

"Well, Mr. Ryan left you both tickets to the theater tonight. So, just follow the directions within the envelope and you'll get to the theater hall just fine." She handed Ludwig the envelope with the tickets and directions.

"Thank you," he said, shocked. It was obvious that he was not expecting plans already to be made.

The woman nodded. "Have a nice day."

The duo walked away. They decided to go have some dinner in Kashmir Restaurant.

It took them thirty minutes to finally find it; however, since they had to keep asking people how to get there and not everyone was overly friendly and helpful.

"Doistu-san, do you find it strange that Ryan-san left us theater tickets and we haven't even met him yet?" Kiku asked once they were seated at a table and ordered.

Ludwig was sweeping his eyes throughout the restaurant looking for anyone suspicious.

"He also knew that we were traveling together. We never told him that."

"Well," Kiku said. "I don't think the man that met us at the bathysphere knew we were going to be together either. He was probably just supposed to show two people around and we just happened to work together. The tickets were together because the man that showed us around most likely informed Ryan-san."

"It just seems like everyone here has a hidden agenda," Ludwig said, eyeing the rich elite that was staring at the busboy with distaste.

"It wouldn't surprise me. I saw vending machines that sold ammunition for guns on the way here. There was also a machine that could upgrade the guns."

"There's also all the posters for those things called Plasmids."

Kiku nodded in agreement. "Do you have any idea what those could be?"

Ludwig was going to answer but he was cut off by the sound of crashing silverware.

Kiku turned around in his seat to watch what was going on. It seemed that the busboy Ludwig was watching earlier had bumped into the wife of the man at a table. The man had gotten angry and pushed the busboy over, causing all the plates and silverware to fall onto the floor.

"Watch where you're going!" the man shouted.

The busboy scowled and stood up. He pushed up both of his sleeves as he stood, showing off huge, pulsating boils along his arms that seemed to give off a red glow.

The busboy flexed his hands and the boils glowed brighter. Kiku and Ludwig jumped when flames burst into existence over the busboy's hands.

The man stared down the busboy and bright blue veins appeared on his arms. The next second it seemed that electricity was coming out of his hands.

"Oi!" the man shouted from the bar. He ran around it and towards the two people who were about to fry and electrocute each other. The bartender thrust his hands at the two men and they went flying back into the windows behind them. "Can't you bloody idiots read?" the bartender shouted, pointing towards the bar. He had a very distinct British accent. "You are not allowed to use Plasmids within the restaurant. Salvatore, you're fired, collect your stuff and get out before I have to call in the coppers. I hear they're all starting to look like Brute Splicers."

Salvatore got up and left the restaurant as fast as he could.

The bartender turned towards the guest that he had blasted back. "Sir, if you do not abide by the rules of this establishment in the near future, I'm going to have to ask you to leave."

The man nodded and the blue veins on his arms disappeared. "Sorry about that."

The bartender didn't respond and turned back to go do his job.

"That was not normal," Kiku stated, "My technology isn't even that advanced."

Ludwig nodded, stunned at the display that he just witnessed. "Same with mine. There has to be a reasonable explanation for this."

"It seems that these Plasmids are a type of genetic altering device, but I can't tell how much it alters the DNA just by that display."

"It may make you dependent on the Plasmid. The busboy had those boils along his arms, but the bartender and the other man were fine."

They stopped their conversation as the waitress came to their table and dropped off their food. "Sorry for the wait," she said.

"Could it just be related to the type of Plasmid that they are using?" Kiku asked when she was gone.

"Maybe, but anything that you inject into your body can become addicting if used enough," Ludwig reasoned.

"So, the busboy is addicted to these Plasmids, but not the other two? I can see the other two turning out the same as the busboy if we give it enough time."

Ludwig nodded in agreement. "I can see that happening, as well."

The topic was dropped as people were seated in the table next to them. They finished their dinner and made their way to the theater.

Their tickets were for a musical called 'Patrick and Moira' located at the Fleet Hall Theater. It was directed by a man named Sander Cohen, who Kiku remembered the tour guide talk about last night. It did seem that Cohen was crazy, not in an extreme way (at least, not yet), but he did love art and wanted everything to be perfect.

After the strange musical about two lovers that were ghosts, the duo headed back to Mercury Suites.

They entered the lobby and saw twenty or so people yelling at the receptionist. It seemed that chaos in the lobby of the hotel was a popular thing that day.

"I've already told you!" she shouted over the noise. "Ryan has forbid any communication with the surface. We can't allow anyone to buy tickets to go up."

"We'll die if we stay down here!" a woman shouted.

"Yeah," someone agreed. "I was almost killed by one of those thugs down in the Farmer's market after I bought some EVE from one of the vending machines."

The rest of the complaints melded together as everyone shouted out at once.

"Please go back to your rooms."

That only angered the residents.

The woman narrowed her eyes and thrust her arms out, causing everyone in the imitate vicinity to be blown back just like the two men at the restaurant.

"Listen, I know about the Civil War that Atlas is brewing. We all know about it, but ganging up on me isn't going to make Ryan change his mind about not allowing trips up to the surface. Take it up with him if you want to try and get out. Now, please, get back to your rooms before I have to call in the police." She straightened out her dress and sat back down at her desk, starting to write something on some paper.

People started to drift away and the two countries made their way back to Ludwig's room.

They sat around the coffee table and Ludwig poured two glasses of Lacas Scotch.

"So, that whole speech downstairs proves that a civil war is brewing under the surface," Ludwig said as he sat down, passing the drink to the Asian country.

"Yes, and it seems like everyone has the Plasmids. If we can't communicate with the surface anymore, how do you think we are going to be able to get back for the next World Conference?"

Ludwig sighed and ran a hand through his hair. "I'm not sure. We'll have to talk to Ryan soon and see if we can get him to allow us up. The rest of the countries will wonder what we're up to if two of the three former Axis countries don't show up."

"We at least need to be able to call them." Kiku sighed and relaxed into the German's couch.

"I'm glad Feli wasn't invited. It's too dangerous down here and we can't be looking after him and trying to avoid all this at the same time."

"Yes, I agree," Kiku said. "Feliciano-san is very kind and sweet, but he does not have the temperament that could handle Rapture."

Ludwig 'hmm'ed in agreement. "That reminds me," he said, taking a sip of scotch. "We need to get Feli a souvenir."

Kiku quirked his eyebrow. "Do you think that that's something we should be focusing on?"

"No, but we'll just take a coaster or napkin or something. Just as long as we bring something back for him."

Kiku sighed and placed his untouched liquor onto the coffee table in-between them, where it was promptly picked up by Ludwig, who drank almost the entire glass.

"How did we get mixed up in this mess?" Ludwig asked, looking into the almost empty glass.

Kiku sighed. "I'm not sure, Doistu-san, maybe it just our good luck."

Ludwig laughed humorlessly and smirked at the Asian's attempt at humor. "Must be," he said and drank the rest of the scotch.


	4. Chapter Four

  
There is nothing like a dream to create the future. Utopia today, flesh and blood tomorrow.   
_-Victor Hugo_   


"Are these them?" a young man with light brown hair asked his companion.

The dirt colored blond haired man looked back down at the picture in his hand.

"Yeah. They look like the people in the pictures."

"Alright," the first man said and picked up the lighter looking of the two men knocked out on the dirty floor of the lower parts of Rapture.

The other man picked up the leather jacket wearing man from the floor and threw him over one shoulder.

"It's a same we can't play with these two for a while, eh, Jim?" the blond one asked.

Jim scowled. "Atlas wants them back in one piece, Rob. I don't want to die."

Rob visibly deflated. "But, Jim, they're already beat up; one little needle prick wouldn't be noticed; and, if Atlas asks, we can say we found them like that."

Jim smirked and set the blue clothed man down against a wall. Rob sat the other one down next to him.

"What do you have?" Jim asked.

"Incinerate. I already have it and found this one in a Pheuno Tube."

"Give it to leather jacket. He looks like he'll be able to stand the pain more than his little companion." Jim kicked the legs of the smaller of the two men knocked out on the floor.

Rob grinned and pushed up the sleeve of the blond haired one and pushed the needle of the Plasmid container none-too-gently into his victim's arm. The man below him twitched at the pain, but didn't wake up, and Rob wasted no time in pushing the plunger down, sending the DNA-altering substance into the veins of the unfortunate soul.

\--

Now, Alfred has a strong tolerance for pain-most countries do-but the pain that he was experiencing at the moment beat out anything that he had ever felt before.

To Alfred, it felt like literal fire was coursing through his veins and, in a way, it was. The plasmid was violently changing his DNA.

Alfred clenched his eyes tighter and his hands tightened into fists as he arched his back away from the wall he was sitting against. He opened his mouth in a silent scream and withered in pain, and then all went black as he slumped against the wall.

His eyes felt heavy as he forced them to open just slightly. Alfred could feel his glasses on his face, but everything was still blurry around the edges.

"Come on, we have to get them back to Atlas."

"You're right."

Someone leaned over him. Blood and dirt obscured the once white rabbit mask that covered the face of the man in front of him.

The man laughed. "He looks like he just had his cherry popped," he said, waving the wrench in his hand at Alfred.

The other gave a bark of laughter. "Just pick him up and let's get going."

The man leaned down and picked up Alfred around the waist as his eyes became too heavy to keep open any longer and he succumbed to the darkness.

The next time Alfred awoke, he was lying on something soft. He opened his eyes and looked around the room.

The far wall was made up of windows that showed the peaceful ocean going about its business. The walls were a boring brown and the furniture was a faded lime green. Alfred sat up slowly and saw that he was sitting on a couch. The other side of the room held a bed with someone on top of it.

"Ve, Holy Roma~," the person on the bed said, whom Alfred identified as Feliciano.

Alfred rubbed his head. "Why does it feel that I was run over by a truck? Ugh."

He stood up and made his way over to the Italian to see if the smaller man knew anything he didn't.

"Feliciano," Alfred said, shaking the brown haired male, "it's time to wake up. Come on, Feli."

Feliciano rolled over and curled into a ball. "Ve~, cinque più minuti, Germania," he mumbled in Italian.

Alfred sighed. "Italy, wake up. Come on, we don't have time for this," he said, shaking Feliciano's shoulder.

"Wha-what?" Feliciano blinked in confusion as he sat up on the bed. "Alfred? Where are we?"

"You are in me private rooms."

Alfred spun around and looked at the intruder. He looked like he was in his late thirties, early forties. Brown hair was brushed back away from his oval-shaped face. His brown eyes calculated everything that went on around him. The sleeves of his white button-up were rolled up to his upper arms and the shirt was stained with dirt, grime, and blood. His pants were not sparred from the conditions either. The brown dress paints were no longer nicely pressed from being worn for so long, but the suspenders were still as elastic as ever as they held up the dirty pants.

"Who are you?" Alfred demanded.

"Th' names' Atlas. I had some o' my underlings bring ye lads here."

Alfred stared at this Atlas character as he spoke. Each country had a connection to their own citizens and Alfred could feel that connection with Atlas. If this man was really Irish, like his accent suggested, Alfred wouldn't feel anything with the man. The accent also had a hint of a Brooklyn accent underneath the Irish lit.

"You're not Irish," Alfred concluded.

"Excuse me, boyo?" Atlas asked.

"Alfred, what do you mean?" Feliciano asked, standing up next to the American.

Alfred ignored the Italian. "You were born and grew up in the States. Why do you fake an Irish accent?"

Atlas scowled. "That's none of your business, boyo."

Alfred scowled as well. "You made it our business when you brought us here."

"Ye all haven't been down in Rapture long enough to know about what happened between Fontaine and Ryan last year. Fontaine wanted to take over Rapture and bring Plasmids to the surface while Ryan didna want that. Fontaine 'died' and became Atlas. I _was_ Fontaine; and now, I _am_ Atlas. I'm taking down Ryan from the inside out, and you're gonna help me."

"What makes you think we'd willingly do that?" Alfred asked.

"Once I take over, I can get you a bathysphere to th' surface. Ryan shut them all down for good. No one enters or leaves without his explicit say-so. We have a deal, boyo?"

Alfred's scowl deepened. "Give us a minute to talk it over."

Atlas smiled. "Take all th' time ye need. I'm in no hurry, but I should let ye know:" His voice took on a darker quality and he switched back to his normal dialect. "I got underlings in ev'ry part of Rapture that support my cause. Yuh refuse an' life can get very hard for you and you're little friend t'ere."

Atlas walked to the bar he had on the other side of the room and poured himself a drink.

Alfred turned around and looked at the smaller country. "I think our only choice is to help him until we can locate Ludwig and Kiku and find a way out of here," Alfred said.

Feliciano nodded. "I agree."

Alfred smiled down at the smaller country reassuringly. "Don't worry, Italy, we'll get out of this." Alfred pointed his thumb to himself. "I am the hero after all."

Feliciano smiled at Alfred's attempt to cheer him up.

Alfred turned back to Atlas, serious once more. "We'll help you."

Atlas turned back to the two countries with a glass in his hand and a smile on his face. "I'm glad ye've chosen to work with me instead of against me," he said in his fake accent.

"You haven't given us much of a choice here," Alfred said and crossed his arms angrily.

Atlas shrugged in response. "Since we're all now on th' same side, I should tell ya, Alfred, boyo, two of my former subordinates injected Incinerate into you."

Alfred stared at Atlas in disbelief. "The pl-plasmid?"

Atlas solemnly nodded. "Everyone 'as a certain aura when they have plasmids. I would know better 'an anyone since I was th' one who made them."

"Is there a way to get rid of it?" Alfred asked fearfully.

Atlas frowned. "No' at the mo'ent. At best, ye can just not use any EVE to boost your ability to use the plasmid, but your body will crave the substance even if ye never use Incinerate. At worst, ye'll become so spliced that no one will be able to recognize you anymore."

Alfred swallowed hard. He knew that Rapture was not a pretty place to be, but he stuck around anyway, and he paid for it.

Felicaiano gave Alfred's shoulder a reassuring squeeze to show him that he would still stick with the American regardless of what the plasmid will do to him.

"I'll let you two settle in. Ye can stay in this room for ye're stay down in Rapture. I doubt ye'll be getting your room at Mercury Suites back anytime soon."

Atlas walked out of the room without another word.

The duo was silent as they stared where he left. They were both in shock. Alfred just found out that he would be addicted to this glowing blue product without any hope for a cure even if he does nothing with the plasmid.

Alfred walked over to the couch and sank down into a cushion without even realizing it. Feliciano sat down next to him.

There had to be a way. Even people that were addicted to the most addicting of substances could be cured if they tried hard enough. Although, treatment normally included being separated from the product. Alfred sighed. He knew he didn't have enough willpower to resist the plasmid. He would use it at one point and even after all the EVE in his body was gone, he would want more and more plasmids and EVE. It was inevitable and Alfred knew it, butthere had to be a way.

Alfred's eyes lit up in remembrance. "We need to find Rapture."


	5. Chapter Five

  
Maybe this is why so many serial killers work in pairs. It's nice not to feel alone in a world full of victims or enemies. It's no wonder Waltraud Wagner, the Austrian Angel of Death, convinced her friends to kill with her. It just seems natural. You and me against the world...   
_-Chuck Palahniuk_   


Feliciano looked at Alfred strangely. "We're in Rapture. We don't need to find it."

Alfred stood up, newfound determination in his eyes. "No, no, no; the embodiment of Rapture. I met her once when she first showed up. She came to one meeting about ten years ago and never showed up again."

"...didn't she hate you?" Feliciano asked, slightly remembering the sickly pale, brunette girl.

Alfred waved away the Italian's concern. "How can anyone hate me? I'm a hero!"

Feliciano sighed. "Well, how do you expect to even find her? I mean, she's probably not just going to be hanging around waiting for another country to show up!"

Alfred shrugged. "We'll figure it out as we go along. Besides, I remember her holding a rose and staring at it with a smug smile on her face. She explained to Latvia that she had grown them without the sunlight. We'll start our search in Arcadia. Come on."

Alfred led the way out of the room, making sure to take the key that was left for their use.

"Where d'ya think yu're goin'?" a man in dirty, grey slacks and a dark blue shirt asked from the end of the hallway. Feliciano stayed behind Alfred in an attempt to stay hidden and out of the line of fire.

"Out," Alfred said. "I didn't think there was any law against it."

The man walked closer and thrust a duffle bag into Alfred's hands causing him to stumble backwards a step.

"Atlas says yous fellas has a job; details is in the bag," the man said and walked back where he came from.

Alfred set the bag onto the ground and unzipped the black duffle. Feliciano kneeled down next to him to be able to see into the bag. The Italian picked up the packet of paper on top and flipped it open.

"What's it say?" Alfred asked eagerly.

Feliciano stared wide-eyed at the page. "He--he wants us to kill someone..."

"Lemme see." Alfred took the papers and flipped through them.

Feliciano opened the duffle bag and pulled out a shotgun. Underneath that was a bunch of bullets for the shotgun and a pistol, which was stuffed into the corner of the bag.

"D-do you want the pistol or the shotgun?" Feliciano asked hesitantly, holding both up.

Alfred dropped the papers back into the bag and grabbed the shotgun, immediately loading four bullets into it.

"Listen, Italy, we're going to find a way out of here." Alfred took the pistol from Feliciano's hands and loaded the magazine into the gun. "We just need to do these few things for Atlas. While we do what he wants, we'll search for Rapture."

The Italian bit his lip and took back the pistol. "Are you sure this is going to work?"

Alfred shrugged and dropped all the bullets into the Italian's backpack along with the papers, leaving the black duffel back in the room. "We don't have much of a choice," he said. Alfred stood back up and held the shotgun up at eye level to get used to how it aimed. "Okay, just stay behind me and keep the pistol out incase we get attacked."

Feliciano stood up and looked down at the pistol lying innocently in his hands. "I...I don't feel comfortable with a gun. Could I just wave my flag?" Feliciano asked and pulled a white flag out from his pocket, waving it lightly.

Alfred lowered the shotgun and rubbed the bridge of his nose. He wondered how Ludwig put up with the Italian. "That won't stop the Splicers from shooting you. Listen to me, Italy," Alfred said and put his hands on the Italian's shoulders to keep his attention. The Italian locked eyes with Alfred. "You can't pull your normal antics down here. You do that and we both end up dead and that will only delay us in trying to find Ludwig and Kiku. I've been down here for a month and I've been watching the Splicers and citizens of this city interact with each other. They. Have. No. Mercy. You have to defend yourself."

"I don't think I c-can shoot someone," Feliciano whimpered.

"Why don't you just use that wrench you have in your bag?" Alfred said like it was obvious.

Feliciano gulped. "I...I don't know."

Alfred pursed his lips and thought for a second and then snapped his fingers. "I got it! Lemme see the wrench and your flag."

"Why?" Feliciano asked and started to take out the two requested items.

"You'll see. Just hand them over."

Alfred snatched the two objects from the Italian's hand and turned his back to him. A few seconds later he turned back around with the Italian's white surrender flag tied around the dirty, red wrench.

"There," Alfred said with a triumphant smile on his face and handed the weapon back to the trembling older country. "Now, when you wave it around, you'll also be protecting yourself at the same time."

Alfred picked the pistol off of where it was dropped on the ground and pocketed it.

Feliciano tried to smile, but it came out more as a grimace. "Thanks, Alfred."

Alfred smiled and shot Feliciano a thumbs-up. "You're welcome, Feliciano, now," Alfred shouldered the shotgun and straightened out his shirt, "let's go take care of this guy so we can start looking for Germany and Japan."

Alfred started to walk down the hallway and Feliciano followed not more than a step behind him.

"How can you talk so lightly about killing someone?" Feliciano asked after they had been walking for a couple minutes.

Alfred shrugged. "Different mindset, I guess. To get to our objective, we need to complete this mission to get further in the game."

Feliciano frowned. "This isn't a game, though."

Alfred smirked. "Who knows? Maybe one day it will be."

Feliciano tiled his head to the side, confused. "What do you mean?"

Alfred smiled wildly and spread his arms wide as they continued to walk back to Mercury Suites. "This could be a game! I mean, the board game Risk is about taking over the world, and the video game industry is expanding. One day,--" He pointed his finger at Feliciano to emphasis his point. "--this place may be the subject of a popular video game that's sold on multiple continents!" Alfred turned back around and continued walking.

Feliciano decided to humor Alfred. It would, at least, keep his mind off of the task they were going to do. "You really think that the video game industry will get that big?"

"Of course! It's only a matter of time before you can do more than just play tic-tac-toe and tennis."

"So, what would they do in this game?"

Alfred shrugged. "Shoot Splicers, save Little Sisters, take down Ryan. I don't know, but it'll be a fun game nonetheless."

Feliciano bit his lip, unsure about that last statement. "Even if the game repeated everything that went on down here?"

Alfred paused. "It's not that scary..."

The conversation died off from there and the two countries continued to walk in silence. A few minutes after they set out, they reached a bulkhead that Alfred knew lead to Olympus Heights.

Alfred turned back to Feliciano. "Okay, we're going to have to be really careful not to be caught from this point on. While we're here, try to keep a look out for Ludwig and Kiku."

Feliciano nodded.

Alfred spun the bulkhead wheel pushed the heavy door open. The two stepped in and shut the airtight door behind them. They walked the five feet over to the other side and Alfred spun the opposite door handle. Alfred and Feliciano held their breath when Alfred pushed the second door and it scraped against the track. When no one came running, Alfred pushed it all the way open and the two walked through. He closed it and they held their breath, waiting to see if anyone would come and check.

"Okay, I think we're good. Let's go," Alfred whispered and started walking. They exited one part of the building and came to an area with two sets of rail tracks with a platform in the center. There was a group of people rocking on one of the tram system cars trying to derail it.

Alfred and Feliciano walked around the riot and they were almost at the other entrance that led into Mercury Suites when they heard a roar of cheering. Feliciano turned around and saw that the people had managed to push the tram off its track and light it on fire.

Alfred pulled on his arm to keep him moving.

Feliciano looked back at Alfred and noticed him holding onto his gun so tight that his knuckles were turning white. Feliciano's eyes darted each and everyway at every sound he heard. Even if Alfred didn't think Rapture was a scary place, he sure did.

"I haven't been here for, at most, three days and this place has gone to hell," Alfred stated at the duo stepped into the lobby of Mercury Suites.

Feliciano looked around and noticed that most of the furniture and walls were now either frozen over or they looked like they were set on fire. Many doors on the lower floors were off their hinges and no one paid the dirt covered pair any mind. People on the upper floors had their guns out and were shooting at anyone who got too close. One elevator was smashed to pieces at the bottom of the shaft and the other had one cord snapped while the other held it up at the fifth floor.

Alfred decided to avoid the main ramp, knowing that they would just get shot at if they tried so he went towards the back stairs.

"The guy we want is on the third floor staring at Fontaine's old apartment," Alfred told Feliciano.

Feliciano gulped in fear and gripped the wrench tighter.

"So," Alfred began as they started up the stairs leading to the third floor. "I'm going to go first and get the guy, while you keep a look out for any Splicers, gun-wielding maniacs, and Germany and Japan. Got it?"

Feliciano nodded fearfully.

"Okay." Alfred pushed open the door and looked around before exiting the stairwell. After seeing no one with a gun pointed at him, he started to sneak down the third floor balcony towards the man sitting on a wooden chair with several cameras and thermos.

Alfred glanced back and Feliciano was standing with his back against the wall looking around for any other people.

The American snuck up behind the paparazzo, who looked up at him when Alfred accidentally kicked a stray used bullet on the ground.

The man stood up, knocking over his chair. He stepped away from Alfred, trying to put some distance between the gun and himself.

He reached down to grab his gun, but Alfred shot him in the side, causing him to fall to the ground.

He groaned and cursed trying to roll back over onto his front, but Alfred stepped down on the back of his neck, breaking it, before he could do so. He removed his foot, leaving bloody marks in its wake and stepped away from the corpse.

Alfred always hated killing people. This was for survival and nothing else.

He heard a shout and turned back towards Feliciano.

There were five Splicers surrounding him, forcing him into a corner.

Alfred took his shotgun and fired the remaining three rounds in his gun into three of the Splicers weakening them.

"Shit," he said, trying to fire more rounds. He slipped the gun onto his shoulder and grabbed the pistol from his pocket, firing the six rounds. He managed to kill four of them and injured another, who was killed by a fierce hit by Feliciano.

The last one swung his wrench towards the Italian's head as he fell into the fetal position at the oncoming attack.

Alfred instinctively thrust his hand out and snapped, causing fire to shoot out of his hand and hit the remaining Splicer. He screamed in pain and dropped his weapon, causing to it fall harmlessly on the ground next to Feliciano.

The man continued screaming and flailed around in pain. He walked too close to the side railing and flipped over the edge.

Alfred ran to the edge and grabbed the railing with both hands, looking down at the unfortunate Splicer as he fell and hit the ground causing his bones to break through his skin and his head smash into the ground. Blood pooled around the prone (and still flaming) figure.

Alfred stared at his hand in shock. How had he done that? Was that what plasmids felt like?

A bullet hit the railing next to his hand; Alfred looked up, shocked out of his reverie. Three people on the forth floor aimed their guns at the country; he backed up out of their firing range before they could harm him.

"Come on, Italy, we need to get out of here," Alfred said, pulling up the Italian.

Feliciano nodded and stumbled after Alfred as he went down the first two flights of stairs. In the stairwell leading down to the first floor, a group of men had decided to stop the duo from continuing down.

"This way!" Alfred pulled Feliciano through the second floor doorway.

They fled towards the main ramp leading down to the lobby.

Bullets flew and hit the ground behind them as they continued to flee out of the main lobby.

The duo leaned against the wall in the tram station to catch their breath.

Alfred smirked and looked at Feliciano. "Well, that was fun."


	6. Chapter Six

  
Every form of addiction is bad, no matter whether the narcotic be alcohol or morphine or idealism."   
_-Carl Gustav Jung_   


###### 

Ludwig bent down and picked up the innocent red envelope that was slid under his door.

He was currently clad only in a light blue bathrobe. He had yet to take a shower and was, at the moment, nursing a cup of coffee as he contemplated on how to get out of this hellhole.

The German set his coffee down and ripped open the envelope. Inside it read: _Andrew Ryan is pleased to invite you to the Rapture Masquerade Ball 1959 located at Kashmir Restaurant. Hope to see you then._

Ludwig sighed. Ryan was flaunting his wealth and good fortune with this city; he was pushing his luck. The German set the letter down and took a quick shower, changing into casual clothes.

A knock on his door pulled him away from putting the finishing touches on his hair.

He pulled it open and let Kiku in.

"Did you get an invite as well?" Kiku asked.

Ludwig nodded. "We'll have to go get outfits. I didn't bring anything for a Masquerade."

"The shopping area that we were in last night would most likely have—" Kiku was cut off by a gunshot, a pause, and then another series of gunshots.

Ludwig stood up, grabbing his gun out of his luggage (he could never be too careful) and opened the door a crack, checking to see if anyone was out there. He inched out the door with Kiku at his back.

"What's going on?" Kiku asked.

"Don't know," Ludwig replied.

More gunshots and a shout that sounded suspiciously like Feliciano came from across the building.

Something orange and red flickered in the corner of Ludwig's vision and he turned just in time to see a man—who was on fire—flip over the edge of the balcony and crash to the floor below.

"Does that look like Alfred-san to you?" Kiku asked, nodding towards the blond haired man leaning over the edge of the balcony also watching the flaming body.

"I don't—" Ludwig got cut off by multiple people shooting at the man. He spun around and ran away from the edge. "I think it is. It looked like his bomber jacket."

A few seconds later, Alfred came running out onto the ramp leading down from the second floor. He was pulling a brown haired man in a blue military uniform behind him.

The man glanced back at the men they were running from and Ludwig saw a curl bounce as his head moved.

"Italy," Ludwig said, exasperated, and then his words caught up to his brain. "It's Italy!" Ludwig tried to see where the two nations disappeared off to, but they had already left Mercury Suites.

Ludwig and Kiku went back into Ludwig's room when it seemed that all the commotion calmed down.

"Did Alfred-san say anything about coming down here?" Kiku asked.

"Nothing, but we didn't really say where we were going either. How did Feliciano get down here? He didn't get an invite."

"He probably followed us."

Ludwig sighed. This just got more complicated.

\--

"You were great in there, Italy!" Alfred said.

Feliciano panted as he tried to get his breathing under control. He could've sworn that he heard someone yell, 'Italy' as they ran out of the complex.

"Really?" he asked.

The American nodded his head and started to reload his guns.

"Come on, let's try to find Rapture."

Alfred started to walk and Feliciano followed.

"Do you have any idea where she could be?" the Italian asked.

"Not exactly, but we'll start in Arcadia."

Feliciano sighed and silently followed the younger nation, tightening his grip on the bloody wrench.

\--

A half hour later, the duo found themselves lost. They somehow made their way back down into the worker's area of Rapture, so, now, they were just trying to find a place to stay for the night.

Feliciano heard girlish laughter and wandered away, still keeping Alfred in his line of sight, trying to find the little girl.

"Come on, Mr. Bubbles! There are angels this way," the girl said coming around the corner.

The small girl had on a tattered, bloody, red dress and her dirty brown hair was up in a ponytail. In her hand was a sharp syringe type device with, what looked like, a baby bottle screwed on the top with glowing red liquid inside of it. She ran ahead of a large man in a diving suit.

"Hi, little girl," Feliciano said to the small child.

She stopped skipping and stared at Feliciano for a second before screaming and running back to the man in the diving suit.

"Mr. B., help!" she yelled.

"Ahh, wait!" Feliciano reached out towards the girl as the porthole lights on the diving suit turned an angry red.

The drill started up and reached towards Feliciano and stuck him in the side faster than he could dodge.

Feliciano screamed out in pain, hot tears pouring out down his cheeks as he was thrown into a wall. The Italian didn't try to get up; he curled into a ball as best he could to wait out the time until his body healed itself. He knew that if he wasn't a nation, he wouldn't even be breathing right now.

Feliciano looked up when he heard a groan and his eyes widened at the incoming drill. He quickly shut his eyes and braced for the impact.

\--

Alfred knew he was lost, but he didn't care. He just wanted to lie down and rest.

Alfred had heard the girlish laughter, but he knew it would be a bad idea to try and talk with the girl, so he ignored it. Until, of course, he heard the Little Sister scream.

The American turned around to make sure that the Big Daddy wasn't targeting him and noticed that his fellow nation was nowhere to be found.

"Crap. Where's Feliciano?" Alfred started walking back to where he came from, gun raised.

A drill started up and Alfred sped up to where it was. He had a bad feeling. His stomach dropped when he heard the inhuman scream of his fellow country.

Alfred turned the corner and saw Feliciano get flung into a wall and the Big Daddy's drill advancing towards the older nation.

He shot off the six rounds in his pistol as fast as he could, but it didn't do much damage. However, it did get the Big Daddy to take his aim off of Feliciano.

Alfred struggled to put the armor-piercing rounds into the gun. The Big Daddy got too close and Alfred thrust his hand out and snapped, causing a stream of fire to hit the diving suit.

He finally finished loading his gun and shot the Big Daddy a couple more times, but it still wasn't down for the count.

Alfred shot another bit of plasmid at the Big Daddy since the fire went out, thus using the rest of his EVE.

Two more bullets and the Big Daddy finally collapsed on the ground: dead.

The Little Sister ran up to him and started to cry, shaking his shoulder, trying to get him to respond. Her ADAM syringe was left forgotten on the ground.

"Mr. Bubbles! You have to wake up! Please, Mr. B.!" she cried.

"Hey, kid," Alfred said, kneeling down to her level. "You need to get out of here before more splicers come."

She sniffed a couple more times, the tears not stopping, pat the Big Daddy on the head in an affectionate way and ran to the nearest Hidey Hole.

Alfred stood up and flexed his hands from the fight. He felt…empty. Like something was missing. He tryed to form fire, but nothing happened. Why did his plasmid not work anymore? He took a deep breath to calm his racing heart from the adrenalin pumping through it and looked around the area. The glowing red liquid in the Little Sister's syringe caught his eye and the ADAM called to him. He walked over in a trance and picked up the syringe. He had to have the ADAM. He needed it. He unscrewed the top and raised the bottle to his lips.

Feliciano groaned in pain, shocking Alfred from his state of mind. The blond threw the syringe away in disgust and the unfiltered ADAM spread across the floor.

Alfred gripped his head in pain. What just happened? Did he almost? No. Why would he do such a thing? It wasn't like him to be drawn to something as silly as glowing liquid. But...no! He couldn't think of this right now. He shook his head to rid himself of the thoughts. He didn't have time; he needed to help Feliciano.

Alfred turned around and rushed to the Italian's side.

"Feliciano, you okay?" Alfred asked.

Feliciano cracked open his eyes. "It h-hurts," he whimpered.

"I know, I know. I'm going to find a First Aid Kit. Just stay here and try not to move, okay?"

Feliciano nodded and curled into himself tighter.

Alfred stood up and went in search for a First Aid Kit. He located one a couple of hallways over and bought it, hoping one would be enough to heal Feliciano.

He was one hallway over from where he left Feliciano when a blue glow from a near-by garbage pile caught hit eye.

He pulled the EVE syringe free. He had two choices: he could use it and be able to use his plasmid again, getting rid of this empty feeling inside of him, or he could drop it on the floor and walk away. Alfred hated being addicted to something. He was a hero; it wouldn't be good if a hero depended on something else to get through each day.

But the glowing blue liquid called to him. He could feel his veins react heavily to the EVE when he held it closer to his opposite arm, needle poised to inject. Alfred swallowed and pushed the needle into his skin, not yet breaking the skin. Just a little more pressure and he would feel whole again. Just a bit more…

No. No! Alfred screwed his eyes shut and moved his one hand holding the EVE hypo away from his arm. He would _not_ give into temptation, not now. He had a friend to help. Alfred tried to throw the hypo away but he couldn't. He did the only thing he could do at the moment: pocket the EVE hypo and continue walking towards Feliciano. He would figure out what to do later.

Alfred found Feliciano still against the wall curled into a ball.

"You'll be fine, Feli, just stay still while I heal you, okay," Alfred said, opening the First Aid Kit.

Feliciano nodded weakly.

Inside the kit was a roll of bandages, some antiseptic, a clip to hold the bandages, and a small glowing red syringe. Printed on the inside lid was a set of instructions. They read: _1) Inject syringe contents close to the injured area. Wait thirty seconds. 2) Rub antiseptic on injury. 3) Wrap and clip bandages around injury._

Alfred uncapped the syringe and tapped it a couple times to get rid of the air bubbles. He set it back down in the case and pulled the remains of Feliciano's shirt out of the way. Without his shirt blocking the view, it looked much worse. Feliciano's entire left side of his stomach was mangled. It was surprising that he was even still alive. The syringe was emptied into Feliciano's bloodstream and within thirty seconds the wound was much smaller, but it was still pretty bad. Alfred spread the antiseptic on what was left of the wound and wrapped it in the bandages. By this time, Feliciano was sitting up with his back against the wall.

" _Grazie_ ," Feliciano said. He rummaged in his backpack with stiff movements and pulled back out his jacket that he took off after the initial fight at Mercury Suites and slipped it back on so he wasn't topless.

"Are you going to be okay enough to move so we can get back to the rooms Atlas lent us?" Alfred asked.

Feliciano bit his lip to stifle his cry of pain as he tried to stand up using the wall as support.

"I think"—wince—"so."

Feliciano was standing, but he was favoring his good side. Alfred let the shorter country lean on him as they slowly made their way back to their room, the EVE hypo sitting heavily in Alfred's pocket.


	7. Chapter Seven

"In everyone's life, at some time, our inner fire goes out. It is then burst into flame by an encounter with another human being. We should all be thankful for those people who rekindle the inner spirit." _  
-Albert Schweitzer_

 

* * *

Alfred sat on the couch staring at the glowing EVE hypo resting in his shaking hands.

They had finally made it back to the rooms after limping around Rapture asking meager directions from the few people that would give them the time of day. Some of which asked for money, EVE, ammo or weapons in return for their services.

The Italian's wound was healing nicely and it would be at least half healed come morning. Feliciano was currently knocked out on the bed, exhausted from the day's events.

The EVE withdrawal symptoms set in an hour into their journey back. At first, he was only shaking, but now he broke out into a cold sweat and his shaking only got worse. Feliciano hadn't noticed because he was shaking from the blood loss and shock.

Alfred ran a hand through his dirty blond hair.

"This is a bad idea." Alfred looked back down at the EVE hypo. "I can't believe I'm going to do this. This will be the only time. I refuse to use it again. I won't do it again or use up the EVE with my plasmid." Alfred reassured himself. "If I don't use the plasmid, then the less I will crave the EVE since it would still be in my system.' Alfred paused his rambling. "That has to work." Alfred pushed the needle close to his left arm. "It…it has to." He wished he could close his eyes, but then he wouldn't be able to place the needle in the correct spot. He plunged the hypo into his arm and bit his lip to keep from crying out in pain from the needle prick.

The glowing blue liquid drained out of the hypo and into Alfred's veins, spreading warmth and erasing the emptiness, which he felt since he used up the EVE, throughout his body.

He pulled the hypo from his arm and the wound closed within seconds with a quiet sizzle.

Alfred sighed in satisfaction and leaned back onto the couch as his shaking started to subside.

Much better.

* * *

Alfred awoke the next morning, neck stiff from sleeping on the couch.

The American stood up and stretched to get the kinks out of his neck and back. His body felt whole and rested despite how he slept.

He looked around in confusion, wondering where he was. This didn't look like his apartment in Mercury Suites. Alfred stared at the man on the bed. Just…who was he? Alfred gasped as he remembered where he was and the circumstances that he was a part of. Alfred furrowed his brow; he had forgotten who the Italian was. That couldn't be good.

He walked over to Feliciano sleeping on the bed and wiped the sweat off his brow with a nearby towel. He wouldn't be up until tomorrow morning at the earliest with the amount of healing he still had to do.

A knock sounded on the door and Alfred rushed to it.

"Yes?" he asked, opening the door wide and stepping out so he didn't disturb Feliciano.

A scruffy man clad in shredded slacks and a dark blue, almost black, shirt stood with a pile of papers.

"'Ere," the man grunted and pushed the papers into Alfred's chest. He raised his arms and caught them before they fell. The man walked away without another word and Alfred went back into his room.

He dropped the papers onto the couch and looked them over. Atlas assigned him some more hits. They all had to be carried out by New Year's Eve in two days.

At the bottom, there were fifty dollars and a note saying ' _Fifty per hit, boyo._ '

Alfred wanted nothing more than to wring Atlas' thick neck and dump him out an airlock, but there was no way he would get that close to him.

The blond sighed and collected the five bio pages and tucked them into a pocket. He took half the money (leaving the other half for Feli in his bag) and the weapons, heading out to kill the men.

* * *

Ludwig and Kiku needed to get masks custom made for the ball in two days. The man said he would have them done and delivered in time. Ludwig and Kiku bought a stork and pheasant mask respectively. Ludwig's would be in black with red and yellow details, while Kiku's would be in white with the details in red.

They duo left the store, their arms weighted down by shopping bags from the costume and dress shops.

"Mate, seriously, this is your forth one in the last six hours. Are you sure you only started last night?" a man in grey swampers, rubber coveralls, and a mongoose mask asked.

"Shut the fuck up, William," the blond haired man standing at the Circus of Values retaliated.

Kiku stopped Ludwig from advancing in the opposite direction back to their rooms.

"What?" he asked, looking back at the Asian.

"Does that look like Alfred-san to you?"

Ludwig looked over at the blond haired man riffling through his pockets pulling out loose change. He had on an eagle mask that was white on the base with red and blue details so he couldn't make out the features on the face. The man turned around and the leather jacket he had on had a large '50' in white numbers on the back.

"You have any money?" he asked them.

"Al, mate, I don't think you should take anymore tonight." Alfred turned back to face the Brit. "I know it's addicting, but you've had enough," William said.

Alfred pulled a pistol out of his pocket and aimed it at William.

"Hey, you don't have to resort to this! I'm sure there is a peaceful way to resolve your disagreement." the man in a bee keeper's outfit and cat mask protested. The other man just stayed quiet and observed.

"Oi!" William said. "I don't mean any harm in it."

Alfred's smile widened, seeming to fill his entire face. His teeth glistened in the overhead lights and his eyes sparked dangerously.

"Mate…Alfred, put the gun down." Alfred pulled back on the safety. "This isn't funny—"

_BANG!_ Alfred pulled the triggered and fired the first round into the guy's skull, showering the other three with blood and brain matter.

"Gross," the bee keeper approved.

"Yah coulda' warned us," the other man said, wiping blood from his eyes.

"Shut it, Cameron. I don't wanna be next."

Alfred dug through William's pockets and pulled out a handful of bills, stuffing them all into the machine. He pushed a few buttons and an EVE hypo fell out the bottom slot.

He picked it up and without hesitation, plunged it into his arm, emptying it.

Ludwig and Kiku were in shock. They never would have thought Alfred would use any sort of drugs, especially one as experimental as EVE.

Ludwig handed Kiku his bags and jogged towards the three retreating men.

"Alfred!"

Alfred turned around and stared at Ludwig, hand still on his pistol.

"Do I know you?" he asked, his eagle mask staring down the German.

Ludwig was silent for a second. "Al, it's me, Ludwig. Don't you recognize me?"

"No, sorry." He turned away from the German. "Let's go, guys."

Ludwig stood there, stunned. The bee keeper walked up and laid a hand on his shoulder.

"If it makes you feel better, EVE causes memory loss, so it's not a surprise he doesn't recognize you." The man walked away after that.

Ludwig walked back to Kiku and retrieved his bags.

"I heard it all," Kiku said.

"We'll get him back. And we'll find Feli, if it's the last thing I do," Ludwig pledged.

* * *

Feliciano groaned and rolled over on the soft bed looking for whomever he shared a bed with that night so he could cling to them. When his hands just met empty air, he opened his eyes and remembered that he was in Rapture. His normal bedmates were not around.

The Italian felt stiff; he tried to sit up and a pang traveled through his body originating from his lower chest.

His hands fluttered down and felt the bandages wrapped around his torso.

"Oh yeah," he said softly, recalling what happened (what he thought) the night before.

Feliciano knows he's annoying, forgetful, and a terrible ally, but he knew his stuff when it came to painting, cooking, and healing. The last was a secret skill that not many knew about, including Ludwig.

Feliciano made his way to the attached bathroom and gingerly unwrapped the bandages, hissing when the skin pulled against the wrappings. He gently touched the tender wound and sucked in a breath, tears gathering in his eyes. He stopped poking his side and wrapped new bandages on.

The door slammed open and Feliciano jumped.

He wandered out of the bathroom and saw Alfred rifling through their meager possessions. He was covered in more blood and dirt than the day before and a bloody eagle mask sat on the side of his head.

"Alfred?" Feliciano asked uncertainly.

His head shot up, blood-shot eyes staring at Feliciano like he didn't know who he was.

"Are you okay?" the Italian asked, stepping forward.

His eyes widened in recognition.

"Feli!" Alfred yelled, "You feeling better? You were out all day yesterday."

Feliciano scrunched his eyes in confusion. "What's the date?"

"December thirtieth. The New Year's party is tomorrow."

"So, I've been out an entire day?"

Alfred nodded and went back to looking through their belongings again.

"Alfred, you got it yet?" a man asked from out in the hallway. He poked his head in and Feliciano saw that he was also covered in blood and dirt with a cat mask on.

Alfred pulled a wad of money from Feliciano's bag and stuffed it in his pocket.

"Yeah, I'm coming," Alfred called back. He picked up the gun he discarded on the couch and shouldered it. He turned to look at the shorter Italian when he was at the door. "I'll back later, okay. Don't get into any trouble."

"Alfred, wait," Feliciano called. He slowly walked towards Alfred and the two jeering men in the hallway. "Are you sure you're okay? You're shaking."

Alfred's hand tightened on the door frame, cracking it with his strength. "I'm fine," he ground out, trying to quell his shaking hands.

"You didn't even know who I was when you came in here." Alfred was silent and the Italian knew he wouldn't comment, so Feliciano tried a different tactic. "Where are you going?"

"It doesn't matter."

Feliciano bit his lip and reached out. "But Al—"

Alfred leapt back from Feliciano's touch. "No!" His breath came out in heavy pants and the other men were silent, watching the exchange.

"Something's wrong with you."

Alfred glared. "I'm fine. Just drop it, Italy." The other two men shared confused glances at the name.

The Italian would not give up. "We need to find Rapture. She could help." Feliciano reached towards him again.

Alfred swatted Feliciano's hand away (still using more strength then he should), causing the smaller man to cry out. " _No!_ I told you, just drop it!" He turned towards the men in the hallway. "Let's go." He walked out with them, slipping the mask back on and closing the door in Feliciano's face.

Hot tears poured down Feliciano's face. He wrapped arms around himself and sunk onto the floor. He was alone, utterly alone. Feliciano had no idea what to do or how to even survive down here. He held himself tighter and wished for Ludwig to come save him like he always did, but as the hours passed, and tears continued pouring, no one came to his rescue.

* * *

"I think you hurt that kid's feelings," John said to Alfred. He used to work in the bee hives in Arcadia, so he wore the protective bee keeper clothing. John could use Insect Storm and was proficient in long-range weapons.

Alfred frowned. He didn't mean to hurt Feli, but he kept digging. He couldn't find out what he needed the money for. He wouldn't understand. Alfred almost couldn't admit it to himself.

"Ey! Lay aff 'im. I don' thin' tha' ki's gonna las' much longah anywa'," Cameron, former steal worker, resident Electro Bolt, and mid-range weapon specialist, said.

"He's much tougher than you think," Alfred said.

"Wha'eva ya say, ki'," Cameron replied.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry about not posting all of the chapters I have. My bad. I'll try to get what I have written up here soon. And a new chapter, but I need to go watch some Hetalia and play Bioshock again (it's been a while).


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